1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of sport fishing and, more particularly, to a fish hook guard to prevent snagging or fouling of the fish hook from underwater vegetation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fishing is a sport activity to some and a livelihood to others. Whatever the reason for fishing, those who are familiar with the activity realize the problems that occur when a baited hook is drawn through underwater vegetation along the bottom of a water bed. The problem with the unprotected hook is that it is frequently fouled by weeds or accidentally becomes snagged on an underwater log or the like obstacle. A major snag will cost the fisherman his bait, hook and any other lure that may be attached thereto. If the hook is simply fouled with weeds, the fisherman is making a wasted effort as the weed will conceal the bait, preventing any type of fish activity. Some types of fishing require all trolling to be performed in heavily vegetated areas which results in the hook being fouled instantly upon placement in the water. The time required to retrieve the baited hook and clear the weeds is not only time consuming, but very disruptive to the art of trolling for fish.
There have been numerous efforts to alleviate this situation in the past, some of which are described below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,378, issued to Crueger, discloses a molded plastic week guard that is used to cover a multi-hook fishing device, wherein the apparatus provides a biased cover to each of the hooks. The problem with the plastic hook cover is that it is costly to manufacture and can only be used on a multi-prong hook. Further, the device cannot be removed and placed on other fishing devices. Crueger further discloses a one piece hook having a flexible hook guard that can be placed either above or below the barb. This embodiment also fails to provide a device that can be transferred to other fishing hooks and requires the fisherman to use the particular lure with the weed guard molded directly thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,948, issued to Santo, discloses a weedless fish hook which engages the totality of the hook from the end of the shank near the tie portion to the underlying portion of the barb. The problem with the Santo device is that it prohibits the use of conventional bait and is limited to bait that can reside on the bottom portion of the hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,216, issued to Borshol, discloses a fish hook protector that is formed in the shape of a V-shaped cros sectional shield encompassing both sides of the barb portion of the hook. The shield completely eliminates the possibility of adding any type of bait onto a hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,758, issued to Phillips, discloses a complicated fishing lure having a body with a hook depending therefrom and a means for covering the hook by use of a V-shaped guard extending from the body portion. The device requires the fisherman to use the particular fishing lure which may not be acceptable to the type of fishing anticipated.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,162, issued to Hayden, discloses a weed guard for fish hooks which is formed from a wire shaped in the form of an "I" at one end which is adaptable to slip over the barb of the fish hook biasing the wire in an outward mode to eliminate weeds from catching the hook unless a downward force is produced.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,507, issued to Knapp, also discloses a fish hook guard based upon a guard which is carried by the hook and protects the sharp point of the hook from snagging.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,191,031, issued to Peters, employs an elastic band between the I-hook of a conventional fish hook and the barb which provides a biasing effect that is overcome when the fish swallows the hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,134, issued to Kemmerer, also discloses a conventional fish hook utilizing a resilient guard member such as a rubber band to bridge the gap between the I-hook of the shank and the barb.
The problem with all of the above prior art is that the weed guard is permanently coupled to the shank of the hook, severely limiting the type of bait that can be used and complicating all other bait placement. Therefore, what is needed in the art is a weed guard that works in conjunction with a baited hook, wherein the barb of the hook is covered without interfering with the size of the bait chosen for the particular usage.